Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Victory for Vick
"Who knows what Evil lurks in the hearts of Men?
The Shadow KNOWS."
Francis S. Street & Francis S. Smith
original publishers of "The Shadow"
"Don't let us make imaginary evils,
when you know we have so many real ones to encounter."
Oliver Goldsmith
physician, novelist, poet, playwrite
1730 - 1774
Tuesday's episode of MSNBC's the Ed Show included a segment on the return of Michael Vick to football. PETA, the animal rights extremist group which the Department of Homeland Security has associated with left wing domestic terrorism in their declassified reports www.scribd.com/doc/12251436/DHS-Eco-Terrorism-in-US-2008 is demanding that Vick undergo a brain scan first. The scan is to determine to the satisfaction of PETA that he is sufficiently rehabilitated.
Let me begin by identifying my bias. I not only love dogs, I live and breathe dogs; I breed, raise and train dogs, I engage in a variety of competitions with dogs. My morning began with training a three year old greyhound, not my own, to go potty on command, on leash. This morning we 'proofed' the success of that training with the challenge of requiring the dog to comply with the command while a number of other dogs ran free around her playing, as an intentional distraction. She did wonderfully well with the command, but her real success was that she was bouncing around like a cartoon Kangaroo at the prospect of her training collar being put on before we began. Before she could learn any new commands, this dog had to be rehabilitated to overcome her fears. She used to shake with anxiety when she was expected to do something, because if not exactly abused, someone - I don't know who - had been horribly, unnecessarily harsh with her. Now she can go to a new home to bond with a new owner, as a happy, well adjusted, well mannered dog.
So understand, as you read this, how very much I hate the actions of Michael Vick. I hate, more than even the average dog loving pet owner, that he caused pain and fear, and horrific deaths to those dogs. More than that, I live in Minnesota; as of the recent announcement that Brett Favre will not come out of retirement, the Minnesota Vikings are among the most likely teams in the NFL to hire Vick. One of my friends, the dog-loving wife of a die-hard football fan, refers to the NFL not as the National Football League, but as the National Felons League. She is angry enough to have written a letter of protest to Roger Goodell; I am sure she will not be the only person to do so. This decision by Goodell may be the most controversial one he ever makes.
I respectfully disagree with my friend. However much I deeply deplore what Vick did, he served his sentence. Has he genuinely changed his values and his feelings? I don't know. I am familiar with the science that PETA is relying on to determine Vick's sincerity, but for those of you who are not, it is well described here : www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/feb/09/neuroscience.ethicsofscience. There are huge ethical controversies surrounding this science; and those ethical dilemmas have not been resolved. At the core of the controversy is simply this, do we judge people on their thoughts, and their feelings, or do we judge them on their actions? People may feel that Vick got off too lightly for what he did, but we have courts that make that decision. What they decide, we need to accept, reluctantly if not enthusiastically. We don't have to like Vick. But we should not allow that dislike to prevent him from lawfully seeking employment in his area of expertise after he has fulfilled the penalty he was given. Most of all, we should not allow anyone, least of all an organization like PETA, to require something as intrusive as a brain scan, as a condition of employment. Vick must, going forward, act appropriately. Sanctions to enforce and ensure that behavior are available, by contract, and the authority of Goodell.
If you are like my dog-loving friend Amy, demonstrate your objections to Vick playing football by not supporting whatever team hires him. Write letters to the team owners, don't give them money by buying tickets, don't watch their games on television. Or, support the rest of the team by attending and watching, booing Vick when he plays.
But do not support PETA's demand for a brain scan of Michael Vick.
Do not support PETA, or the HSUS. Don't give them money, don't give them the power of influence. Research who they really are. As much as I dislike Vick, as a dedicated dog lover, I dislike PETA and the HSUS, even more than I dislike Vick. In a different way, they do more harm as organizations than Vick could ever do as an individual, bad as he was. If you love humans, as well as loving dogs, do not endorse judging people by their intentions as determined by intrusive brain scans. Support judging people by what they do; whatever their thoughts or urges, their is no definitive way to anticipate what ultimate decisions they will make about their feelings and their impulses. In the end, that is all that matters, their choices, their actions; anything else is simply their private demons to battle.
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Michael Vick should not have been reinstated, no ifs, no ands, no buts.
ReplyDeleteIn virtually any other line of work, he would not have been. He is a felon, a felon who was likely paroled early only because he had the money to get a lawyer to convince the courts to let him plead to a much less severe a crime than he actually committed. Other professions, for example the legal profession, would have disbarred him and not allowed him to return.
However, the NFL is about nothing if it's not about crass commercialism and money above ALL other things. They banned Vick because he was an embarrassment, and they're reinstating him because they think he'll make some team money. They care nothing about Vick, his crimes, or the message it sends to youth about the consequences of heinous actions.
I don't like Vick. I can - but won't - express in greater detail how MUCH I don't like Vick.
ReplyDeleteIt concerns me how celebrity atheletes are role models, for children and for adults. It concerns me how much money they make, although, it is likely that Vick will earn much less now than he did previously. It concerns me that all Vick really has to do to regain acceptance is to win - there were a number of news articles to that effect.
IF we don't want celebrity atheletes who are thugs and criminals, poor role models, then the various sports (notjust football) should require compliance with morals clauses in their contracts. That would however result in the ability to perform as a player being subordinate to other considerations. Perhaps not a bad outcome, but still, it would shift the focus from how well one performs in their job to what they do outside that job. Something to think about.
As heated as my anger was at what Vick did to and with dogs, I was far more chilled by the demand by PETA that Vick have his brain scanned, as a condition of employment. I'm an avowed science geek, especially the bio-sciences. I have followed this topic for years, well before PETA embraced it. The ethical implications are HUGE. PETA's hands are anything but clean, they have no moral high ground position.
I wrote this in part, in hope our own dear ToE will weigh in on the aspect of redemption and forgiveness, as well as the ethics of the situation, and legal implications. Like you Pen, I have come to cherish ToE's qualities of character, and I defer to his spirituality to adequately address these.
Given my intensity of emotions, both hot and cold, I would particularly like to underscore the two quotations at the beginning of this piece, selected not only for their suitability, but to lighten the tone. The Shadow was not only appropriate, it reflects my delight in old radio shows. The Oliver Goldsmith quotation, also seemed to fit, but additionally, among his many known writings, Goldsmith is believed to be a possible author of a children's story "The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes". I've been called that, "Goody Two-Shoes" often enough in my life, sometimes as a compliment, but equally often as an insult, that I had to give preference to Goldsmith over other authors and quotations. I couldn't resist. Perhaps that information will make the quotation more entertaining.
I agree that Michael Vick should not have been reinstated. I am not a big fan of professional football, preferring college football myself. However, I agree, I will not support any team that hires Mr. Vick, nor will I watch them on television. If I am in a place where they are on television and I can't escape, I will make a note of who is advertising on the football game, and make sure that I write the advertisers to inform them that I will no longer buy their product because of their advertising with that team.
ReplyDeleteIf Mr. Vick had been in a true profession, that requires a license instead of just braun and skill, he would have most certainly lost his license and would have never practiced again. As Penigma said, if he had been a lawyer, if he didn't surrender his license he would have been disbarred and never allowed to be reinstated.
On the topic of Redemption:
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's graceEphesians 1:7. St. Paul, here writing to one of the early churches, states what we already know: That through Christ's sacrifice on the cross our sins are forgiven, and this is a gift of God. However, its has also been part of Christian theology for millenia that forgiveness of sin does not mean that one escapes responsibilities for the consequences of one's action. This is why, (in part), that God's forgiveness doesn't equate with the civil authorities forgiving an offense. Just as in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul said, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God", (Romans 13:1) we submit to civil authority. That civil authority has determined the punishment for Michael Vick, and he has served that punishment.
I don't know whether Michael Vick ever has accepted true responsibility for his action, has repented of them, or has otherwise redeemed himself. That is a matter between he, his minister or priest, and God.
Vick has served his time and remember he is still under suspension from the league. He can participate in training camps and some preseason games but sometime in the first six weeks of the season the commissioner will decide if and when he can play. This is an important piece of the reinstatement because pro players get paid based on the games they play and he will miss at least 1/4 of the season. Goodall has said he will talk with Vick's probation officer, Tony Dungee (acting as mentor to Vick), and expect that he had no involvement with local law enforcement. Several things I have read suggest that after not playing for 2 yrs in prison he might not be in shape so they are talking about league minimum for salary, he was the highest paid player in the league at the time he went to jail. As far as other professions kicking you out for good in a quick google on "lawyers reinstated to bar" I found numerous cases of lawyers who were caught stealing from clients, avoided prison by agreeing to be disbarred and being reinstated several years later. Given that Vick probably has 5-7 yrs at the most left in his career I don't think that reinstatment after 2 yrs in jail is unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteEach state has different standards on admission to the bar, and each state's supreme court ultimately makes the decision on whether to reinstate a disbarred attorney. While a disbarred attorney can in some cases be readmitted to the bar, its rarer that TTucker implies, at least in Missouri and Kansas. Attorneys who are disbarred for the offense of stealing from their clients are almost never readmitted, at least in Kansas and Missouri. I can't speak to the practices in other states. Unfortunately, (and I don't agree with the practice), an attorney who is facing discipline can voluntarily surrender his/her law license, and is technically disbarred by order of the Supreme Court, but it doesn't have the same effect as the supreme court finding them guilty of some act of misconduct and then being disbarred. Such persona are sometimes readmitted to the bar, although generally it is years later after an exemplary record. Some criminal offenses though would be grounds for permanent exclusion. An offense as objectionable and as brutal as committed by Michael Vick would probably be one of those offenses, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs I said above, Michael Vick if he desires it, can obtain forgiveness from God for his sins. The price of such redemption has already been paid, by Our Lord's death on the cross. As Christians, we are commanded to forgive those who sin against us. "And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation" Luke 11:4
While we should forgive Michael Vick for his sin, as I have said earlier it doesn't mean that he should escape responsibility for his action, and I don't believe he should be reinstated to play professional football. Unfortunately, I suspect the commissioner will eventually do so, because the (and thanks, DG,I love that phrase) the National Felon's League isn't interested in anything except money.